Netherlands Returns 119 Looted Artifacts to Nigeria in Major Restitution Move

After 120 years in European hands, Nigeria is welcoming home its stolen history.

Fez– In a historic gesture that speaks volumes about the long-overdue reckoning with colonial theft, the Netherlands has officially returned 119 looted artifacts to Nigeria, items that were stolen from the ancient Kingdom of Benin over 120 years ago during colonial rule.

The handover, which took place at the National Museum in Lagos, wasn’t just a ceremonial formality.

It marked a powerful moment in a growing global movement calling for the return of Africa’s stolen heritage. The items include the famous Benin Bronzes, intricately crafted metal and ivory sculptures dating from the 16th to 18th centuries, that once adorned the royal palace of Benin before being violently seized in 1897 during a British military invasion.

At the time, British forces exiled King Ovonramwen Nogbaisi and looted the palace, dispersing its treasures across European museums and private collections.

Now, decades later, the act of returning these artifacts is finally beginning to undo some of the damage done.

According to Aljazeera, during the official ceremony, Nigeria’s Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Olugbile Holloway, described the artifacts as “the spirit and identity of the people they were stolen from.”

His words cut deep: these aren’t just decorative objects, they’re fragments of cultural memory, violently ripped from their communities and displayed in foreign institutions for over a century.

The Netherlands is not alone in this shift. Germany has also committed to returning more than 1,000 similar pieces to Nigeria, part of a broader wave of restitution efforts gathering momentum across Europe and North America.

This isn’t Nigeria’s first successful repatriation. In 2022 alone, the country formally requested the return of hundreds of artifacts and saw real progress.

That same year, London museums sent back 72 items, while the U.S. state of Rhode Island returned 31. Bit by bit, the pieces of Nigeria’s heritage are coming home.

But while these returns are meaningful, they’re also just the beginning. Thousands of looted African artifacts remain scattered in museum collections worldwide, many still without formal plans for return.

Still, this latest restitution by the Netherlands sends a clear message: the tide is turning.

What was once taken by force is now being reclaimed with dignity. And for Nigeria, each returned piece is a step closer to rewriting a history that was never meant to be stolen in the first place.